Photos from the Masai Mara in Kenya

Welcome to Masai Mara Photos

The Masai Mara is a large Game Reserve in Narok County, Kenya. It covers an area of 580 square miles, and is made up of large areas of open grassland, scattered trees, forests and rivers.

The Masai Mara boasts some of the most impressive wildlife spectacles on the planet, including the famous Wildebeest migration and a high density of Africa’s famous big cats; Lions, Leopards and Cheetahs. The Masai Mara is also home to over 400 species of bird.

Along with its exceptional population of big cats, the Mara is also rich with plant eaters such as Zebra, Buffalo, Impalas, Gazelles, Topi, Giraffes, Hippos. Other carnivores including Crocodiles, Servals, Hyenas and very occasionally, Wild Dog have been seen.

The origin of the name “Masai Mara” comes from the Maasai people who called it the “Mara” meaning “Spotted” due to the Mara’s scattered landscape of trees and rocky outcrops. Running through the heart of the Masai Mara, on its journey to Lake Victoria, is the Mara River.

The Ecosystem is split into separate Conservancies, the Mara Triangle, the Enonkishu Conservancy, the Mara Naboisho Conservancy, Mara North Conservancy, Ol Kinyei Conservancy and the Olare Motorogi Conservancy. Towards the south of the Reserve, the grassland continues on across the Kenyan border into Tanzania’s Serengeti National Park.

Most of the time, the Mara has a hot climate, with an annual period of regular rainfall (the wet season) which is arrives during March and April. The famous wildebeest migration occurs in the Mara where there is fresh grass, which is usually around the months of July to October.